1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of container crushing devices and, more particularly, relates to the crushing of thin-walled cans, such as metallic beverage cans, to reduce their bulk for recycling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ours is a society which uses great quantities of food and beverage containers in the form of sturdy, thin-walled cans. These cans are part of a present and growing refuse problem in that their discarded bulk without crushing can be as great as their original bulk. In addition, many of the containers are made of aluminum which degrades very slowly in the environment.
To reduce the bulk of cans and to reduce the handling and storage problems of refuse or recycling activities created in part by the bulk of cans, prior art devices are known which crush or flatten cans. Among the known prior devices are those shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
______________________________________ Nadolny 2,466,907 Maron 3,766,849 Brock 2,905,079 Carlson 3,776,129 Black 3,299,802 Reimers 3,780,647 Workman 3,667,386 Wharton 3,889,587 Moller 3,732,804 Pobuda 3,948,164 ______________________________________
One known crushing apparatus flattens the can in a plane parallel with the longitudinal axis of the can, sometimes after a step in which the ends of the can are skewed and collapsed inwardly. This type of apparatus has the disadvantage of not reducing the bulk of the can as completely as possible.
Another known apparatus collapses the sides of the can in the approximate center of the longitudinal axis of the can so that the can ends are drawn toward the collapsed side. The can ends are then flattened to a plane parallel with the previsouly flattened can sides. This type of apparatus also has the disadvantage of not reducing the can's bulk to a minimum.
Finally, there are can crushers which crush the can along its longitudinal axis to bring the ends together. These devices alternatively gouge, split, or tear the can's sides to reduce the force needed to crush a can along the longitudinal axis. A disadvantage of one form of these crushers is that separate complex linkages are used to gouge or dent the sides before longitudinal axial compression can take place. A disadvantage of another style of apparatus is that a relatively strong force, separate from that force used for crushing the can, is needed to split or tear the can's sides by means of the sharp hooks or blades provided with the apparatus.